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8.30.2011

Let's be honest. I don't always like what I make. I should - I mean, if you're going to go to the trouble of making something, you ought to love it, right? But, no, sometimes I'm crafting just for obligation sake.

But not this time. This time, though this was for a specific challenge, I used product that I loved, photos that I love, and I even mixed things up with a little bit of digital play.

The background is a piece of Crate Paper from one of my noelmignon.com kits (I can't remember which one, of course) that I punched with a Martha Stewart edge/corner punch. Then I dripped a little white ink onto the page just to give it a little more aged look.

All of the paper on the page is by Simple Stories - the 100 Days of Summer line. AND I AM IN LOVE WITH IT. Period. The end. My favorite line. At least for the next few days, until I've used it to death and am sick of it.

And then I grabbed one of the little wooded fences and inked it up. LOVE this simple little technique - and it works so well with this kind of paper.

It is at this point that I must confess that I made this page up with absolutely no idea of the photos that would be going on it. So, when I got to the point that I HAD to add photos to it, I realized that my printer was completely out of ink and I was, in fact, screwed. It is at this point that I must also confess to being in a sadly embarrassing state of general appearance and that no amount of money could have made me do anything about it in order to leave the house, drive the 12 miles to Staples and get ink.

So I improvised.

I photographed the layout, uploaded it to Photoshop (I use CS3) and put my photos into the layout. I just traced around the summer banner and made it a new layer via copy, and put it over the photo so that it looked like I actually had a photo under the banner "for reals." And not for fakes. Fakes are bad.

Then I typed in a bit of journaling and voila!

It was actually kind of a nice change of pace, this little hybrid venture of mine, and I love the outcome!

8.26.2011

Hey y'all (in my best Paula voice) it's time to pick a winner! But first, I just wanted to thank you all for all of your sweet and encouraging words, and for those of you who donated actual dollars, THANK YOU!! It really means so much to me and my family to have your support. This has been a hell of a last two years for us, and we're are excited to see what the future holds for Kate and having this kind of support really helps!

SO

I have entered everyone into a totally random drawing and we had many entries!

BUT

There can only be one winner for this hunka hunka burning kit!

And she is (drumroll please...)

Jeanie Kowalczyk!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAY Jeanie!
Now, some of you may be saying, "Um, I don't see a comment from her!" And you would be right. And the answer to that is the following: My mom called and tearily says, "Jeanie just donated $100 because of your blog post. And she tried to comment, but she couldn't login. And well, just do it for her!" And so I did.

So there you go.

Thanks so much Jeanie for all your support! You'll be getting your package veeeery soon!!

And for those of you who didn't win something this week, I will be keeping your entries and carrying them over to the next Freebie Friday that will be going up next Friday, September 2. The walk isn't until September 17, so if you didn't get a chance to facebook, tweet, or repost this on your blog, there is still time! And if you want to donate to this friggin' awesome cause, just click here to go to our team page. No amount is too small and it is all VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!

AND ALSO

The new kit from Noel Mignon is available for preorder and there are only a few left!

She is also doing a shipping special this month for all domestic orders - buy two kits and get free shipping, or spend over $100 in the shop and get free shipping! Purty sweet, I think! Be sure to go to the shop to get yours today before they are all sold out!

8.23.2011

So remember last week when I was trying to figure out how to use up all those scraps? Well, I figured out one really great way!

Make a mini album! This one is 3x5 - the perfect size to use up lots of little pieces. I used mostly the Salt Water Taffy and Mary Ellen kits for this one.

I started by making the bases for all the pages the same size, and stitched most of them so that they would have a feeling of continuity that is really important, especially when working with something small.

There's lots of layering on this mini, trying to use up some really small pieces, tucking them in here and there. I LOVE this antique brass butterfly from Making Memories!

Don't be afraid to add some inks and sprays to these layouts, too.

This is a great way to use up lots of those leftover stickers, too! Just run them off of the edge of the page, and trim them down.

You can also run small pieces through your Cricut and cut out some really cool shapes like this bumble bee or the little doily below.

Teeny tiny ephemera pieces add a little dimension to pages, too.

Mini banners are a great way to add a little pop to your pages, too, like this one I made using the Lily Bee stickers and then stitching across them. I must confess that I also have tons of almost empty bobbins, so I even used up all of them in an effort to declutter - I KNOW. It's a little crazy, but it works, and nobody ever sees the bottom thread...

Small pieces also make good frames.

Punch out shapes from teeny scraps like the butterfly below.

So grab your pile of scraps and get busy! It was such a fun little project to make, and didn't take much time, either!

8.18.2011

For those of you who read Wednesday's post, you know that the walk for Crohn's is veeerrrrrry important to me. So important that I'm willing to bribe you to get your support. Yep, I'll say it. I'm not above it.

In order to gain said support, I am reviving Freebie Friday. Yep. I am.

Here's what's up for grabs:

Yep, that's a whole ton of Graphic 45, including Le Cirque, Curtain Call and ABC Primer, and some Staples. Jenni Bowlin Haven papers, stamps, stickers, rubon, Bingo cards,chipboard and buttons. A really cool 6x12 album by Clear Scraps, some Anna Griffin diecut papers, stickers and chipboard alphas, Petaloo flowers, lots of ribbon, vintage book pages, Mark Richards jeweled alphas and nail heads, some cute stick pins, fabric, baker's twine, mini clothes pins, vintage ephemera, Bingo numbers, and a whole mess of other "stuff" that I couldn't include in the picture. It's easily over $100 in product. I actually cringed at a few things I put in there that I reeeaaaallly had a hard time parting with.

In order to win this sweet little stash of happy you must do the following to earn entries:

1. Link up this post on Facebook. (1 entry)

2. Tweet about it. (1 entry)

3. Blog about it and include the link to the donation page. It doesn't matter if it's my page or not - anyone on Team Lejeune will work! (3 entries)

4. If you personally donate, let me know. (5 entries) And a great big online hug. Unless of course you live near me, and then I will deliver one personally.

5. Sign up to participate in the walk. (5 entries) Seriously, if you live in the Central Valley, CA sign up! It's going to be a great event and it will mean so much to me and my family to have your support.

So that's the deal this week. We'll see how it goes, and I'll announce a winner next week. If we do well, I just might have another fun game to play that will score you even more stuff!

8.17.2011

Crohn's Disease is seriously the shittiest thing in the world. Pun intended. It is probably one of the least publicized and most life-altering thing to have. It's like the gateway disease. Once you have it, you start on all these medications that just lead to other problems, like arthritis, liver & kidney disease, and even leukemia. And my sister Kate has it.

I can't even begin to tell you how upside down her world has turned in the last two and a half years. She went from just fine to 30 days in the hospital, bleeding, vomiting, shitting in total pain and humiliation, with no privacy and very few understanding or compassionate nurses and doctors to help. And at the end of all of that there was still no cure for it, just a handful of drugs to take 18 times a day and a "we'll see."

Have you ever take Prednisone? How about Flagil? Asacol? Reglan? Protonix? Well imagine being on them for over two years (and a ton of other, far more expensive ones too) and waking up to find that the prednisone has weakened your bones to the point of arthritis, leaving you constantly fatigued, and that the flagil has caused peripheral neuropathy, which is just a fancy way of saying that your limbs are in a constant state of that fallen-asleep numb feeling and your brain just isn't cooperating the way it's supposed to. How about taking a $1000+ a month medication that has no generic version, and finding that 8 of nine of them have passed through you whole. Not exactly encouraging, is it?

And then on top of that having everyone on the planet tell you that you'd get better if you'd just make better food choices. Which is the biggest pile of you know what because, um, 'scuse me, but don't you think if there was a menu called the "Get rid of Crohn's by eating this" menu that surely everyone would stick to it? Because I can promise you, if it meant not living with a toilet tethered to your ankle, you would. And if anyone is motivated to get better, it's someone who has to visit Uncle John 20 times a day.

So after two and a half years of fighting for care, from a doctor who's recently revealed himself to be the biggest shithead of them all, she is starting over. And she's not alone. My mom has been very involved from the beginning - Kate's best advocate. Kate's boyfriend Thomas reaaaaaalllllly loves her and is totally there for her. And I am three hours away researching and blogging about it. And can I just say, that if I were her, I wouldn't be half as sane. And positive. And humorous. And that, I think, deserves a metal.

Or at least a donation for the Take Steps Be Heard walk. That's right, we're walking for Crohn's on September 17th, and we need your support! This is really the underdog of diseases, and every dollar helps to find better meds, create better resources, treat so many people who have been diagnosed with Crohn's, just like my sis, and to hopefully find a cure.

8.09.2011

Hope you all had a great weekend! We had a whirlwind followed up now by a bit of a crash and burn. It started early Friday morning with driving to San Jose so that Eric could help a friend with his race car, which meant that Brittny would have been sitting with nothing to do, except that she knows the very best scrappy lady in all of San Jose! My good Kiwi friend Shell is the owner of Scrapgrlz, and has always put on great retreats, but has also recently opened up a shop! You can shop, crop, and trust me, you will eventually drop! I was finally able to make it over there on Friday to see it, and OMG it is fantastic! Lots of goodies to buy, space to crop, and tools to play with, too! You have to go check it out! And be sure to stop by her online shop if you're not in the area - she has great deals and does lots of giveaways on her blog!

So after I saw the shop, I headed back to the land of the race car, obviously with lunch for the hungry men, and slaved in the sweltering heat for hours and hours and hours. Okay, it was maybe two hours, and it wasn't exactly sweltering. But it was hot! And I was wearing pink. And the mere thought of a grease stain on my frilly pink top was enough to make me perma-cranky.

After the boys finished on the car and got it all loaded into the trailer, we headed to Fresno to my Mamala's house to drop me off for the weekend. YAY! The boys continued on down to Bakersfield to do their manly car racing business, and I got to stay and have fun with my mom. We went to see Crazy Stupid Love, and wowee wow wow - it was SUCH A GOOD MOVIE!! Seriously, you HAVE to go see it. I crazy stupid LOVED it!

Flash to late Friday night. Eric calls to say that his friend ran his car into the wall, and they are officially done racing for the weekend. Wow. Okkkaaaaaaaaay. So the nice, blissful day and a half that I had planned with Mamala changed into a nice blissful 18 hours because home the boys came!

But all was not lost, no sir. This just meant that Eric and my sis's boyf could repair my mom's fence a day earlier than he planned, and wouldn't have to take a day off of work after all. BUT the minor repairs turned into a total recall, and not even humpty dumpty could have survived this one. But never fear, they are total fencing geniuses and got it up in record time. Ha ha Kate, I know, I know, "that's what she said." By Sunday afternoon it was all done, so Eric did a little tree pruning and we were on our way home!

And can I say, it's good to be home? I spent a few hours yesterday working on my scrap pile which seems like it grows exponentially overnight, and I can never get a hold on it. I made a few cards and am going to be butterfly punching, accordion folding, and whirligiging the sweet bejesus out of that pile until it is under control!

Here's a few little things I made:

I used a combination of my Mary Ellen and Salt Water Taffy kits for this one. It's hard to tell, but it is actually an A2 size card. I cut the scalloped paper to hang over the top and right side of the card.

A couple of tags I made using some more of my past Noel Mignon kits. LOVE that Crate Paper Restoration flower paper. I'm a fussy cutter and proud!

8.02.2011

This is another of my submissions for the American Crafts Design Team. It's a handmade journal for a month of reflection/craftiness/experiments/journaling. I would say art journal, but it seems that everyone is doing an art journal now. So it's the un-art journal.

I used some Thickers and a few paints to get this look.

The inside of the journal is full of blank, numbered pages , lined with super cute American Crafts papers.

Wanna make your own? Here's how:

Start with a couple of pack of chipboard Thickers and two pieces of chipboard. I cut mine to 5x7, but you can do whatever size works for you.

Fill up the front of one of the pieces of chipboard with lots of Thickers. Be sure to leave space for ring holes.

Cover the front of the cover with a good coat of Gesso. I used white, but you could use black, too.

Choose a color of paint you like, or mix two colors together. I prefer Studio Acrylics, but any old paint is fine.

Be sure to mix enough for two coats.

After the first color is dry, choose and coat with a second color.

After the second color is dry, use sand paper or a file to rub off some of the layers of paint.

Now you can see the layers of exposed color.

Cover it with a gel medium like Mod Podge. I usually use Studio Gel Gloss Medium, but this Mod Podge has sparkles in it, and how can I possibly say no to sparkles? Use a heat tool to get it quickly, completely dry.

Use Ink Gold by Viva Decor to dirty up the cover. I used the charcoal color, and smoothed it on with a foam sponge. If you get it on too heavy, just use a little water to take some off.

I took it easy on the backside.

So that's all there is to it! Try it out for yourself and let me know how it goes!

8.01.2011

Here's a couple of layouts I made for the American Crafts Design Team call.Fingers crossed - this would be soooo exciting. I can't even imagine being able to work with some of the amazing designers on this team - what an awesome group of gals!

How much do you LOVE those flowers?! I jazzed them up a little with a Viva Decor Glitter Liner.

Hi, I'm Britt.

Thanks for stopping to take a gander at my crazy rantings and occasional craftyness. I tried to retain some semblance of dignity when I first started this blog, but alas, I am shameless... I will sometimes curse, occasionally throw out a crude remark, and frankly that's just me. Deal with it. Or don't. But I'd rather you did - I like having you around.